Random Thoughts: Thumb Fatigue

I’ll be sharing some totally random (maybe weird) musings on this post. Once again this morning I had to publish and has become customary I hadn’t the foggiest what I was going to write. So I decided to look through some things I’d jotted down and saw one that looked promising. The only thing was that I’m not quite sure how you’ll react. My consolation is that we’re all ‘weird’ anyway so you’ll stop reading, sympathise or find it relatable…

So the note (phrase actually) that sparked this piece was thumb fatigue. That’s exactly what I felt the first few days I started using my BB. Yes, my thumbs ached…like I said some of this maybe strange for you to grasp. I wasn’t used to their active status that came with being the proud owner of a Blackberry. Maybe it was part of being ‘bush’ I don’t know, but I noticed they throbbed.

I don’t know when they eventually stopped aching but ache they did in those early days. I really wanted to ask someone but refrained from doing so, lest I be branded a serious araoko! The fact that I’d also entered the BB craze world ‘late’ was another reason I didn’t bother to ask anyone. A lot of the folks I knew had been using theirs for quite a while and as a newbie I certainly felt shy to ask if they had similar experiences when they got theirs.

Certainly I knew what a BB was, (a phone) but its other functions weren’t ‘revealed’ until I actually got one. Unlike other people, I didn’t fantasise about getting one and spend hours researching on functions, models etc. I knew that I’d get one soon enough and also learn how to use it then. My NOKIA communicator served me well enough and I wasn’t in any hurry. Meanwhile everywhere I turned, the BB craze had spread.

During my pre-BB stage, someone asked for my mobile number and gave me their BB. The keyboard was strange and I had to hand it back when it turned to letters since I didn’t know how to make it change back to numbers. Another encounter was when I read BankyW’s article about broadcasts, status, display pictures etc. I enjoyed it because it was well-written but the jargon used went right over my head! All the initial read gave me was an appreciation of his prose.

Two years later I’m still using the same model and have come to better understand what it means to wield one. This responsibility has come with annoying bcs, status messages, dps and the lot. It has also given rise to great random conversations, the ability to keep in touch with family, friends and others. I’ve also learned to use the delete button as required. I met someone that’s never used it and the only thing I can say is that he’s a much better human being than moi…

Since my advent into the BB-verse some have left it forever, more have joined and others appear to be permanent citizens. I’ve heard complaints about what a distraction it is and yet others are unable to do without their ‘CrackBerry’. With the additional functions to successive models and other smart phones springing up lovers of gadgets are doomed to slavery. We’ve been warned and a word is enough for the wise, or at least it used to be.

My thumb fatigue is a distant memory and I’ll continue to observe the developments in tech, watch sci-fi movies and see how the future unfolds in real time. This revelation wasn’t so bad or was it?!